Star-Ledger file photoThe New Jersey Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail train makes a stop at Jersey City Exchange Place in this file photo. The rail may soon extend to Englewood or beyond in Bergen County.

ENGLEWOOD — It is called the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, but to date, all of the service has been in Hudson County.

But now that NJ Transit has scheduled public hearings next month regarding a plan to extend the service to at least Englewood, the project is the closest it has been to living up to the Bergen in its hyphenated title.

"It’s been a long time coming," said former Assemblywoman Rose Heck, a longtime advocate for light rail in Bergen. "We’ve waited impatiently for light rail to come into Bergen."

NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein said the Federal Transit Administration has given approval to publish and distribute a draft environmental impact statement, which he termed "an important milestone."

He said the draft environmental impact statement evaluates the impact of extending the light rail service from its end point in North Bergen, eight miles north to Englewood, or beyond to Tenafly.

NJ Transit has scheduled two public hearings per day for two days next month to receive spoken and written comments on the Northern Branch draft environmental impact statement:

Heck, the mayor of Hasbrouck Heights, said initial projections were 10,000 to 15,000 riders a day in Hudson and 25,000 to 30,000 in Bergen.

Now that Hudson gets 45,000 to 47,000 riders, she said, "Bergen is going to, without a doubt, have about 60,000 passengers a day."

"It can be used for mass transportation into the city and to various areas for jobs in Jersey City," Heck said. "The key is, we’ve always wanted Bergen-Hudson completed so that we can bring it into the Meadowlands, because there will be a big swell of jobs in the Meadowlands."

There is no timetable for the project, and money remains a major hurdle, Heck said.

The service now extends as far south as Bayonne, with stops in Hoboken and Jersey City.

"It’s quiet, it’s fast when it has to be fast and it’s passenger friendly," Heck said of the light rail.